Exchanging the Spark
by THE STAR FREEDOM
Summary: Life is made up of little moments, little specks of time, that define us and change us. Elise Rivers is a muggleborn, and this is her story of how she met her best friends and the love of her life. This is the story of how these people changed and defined Elise's life. SBxOC
1. Sirius Orion Black

**QUICK A/N BEFORE YOU BEGIN: SERIOUSLY READ THIS IT IS IMPORTANT. Anyway, this is no longer the story of Baylie White. This is now the story of Elise Rivers. Elise River's story will be a little different than Baylie's, but for the most part it will be similar. I was having trouble with Baylie's story and the length of it and where it was going, so I scrapped it and started over. I do hope you enjoy this new story of Elise Rivers. **  
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><p>"The glance has been so much abused in love romances, that it has finally fallen into disrepute. One hardly dares to say, nowadays, that two beings fell in love because they have looked at each other. That is the way people do fall in love, nevertheless, and the only way. The rest is nothing, but the rest comes afterwards. Nothing is more real than these great shocks which two souls convey to each other by the exchange of that spark."<p>

- Victor Hugo, _Les Misérables_

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><p><span>ONE - SIRIUS ORION BLACK<span>

It was a crisp and bright day in mid July when Elise Rivers and Sirius Black first encountered one another. She was in Diagon Alley with the tiny yet lively Professor Flitwick acquiring her school supplies to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had nearly fainted when she opened the door to hear a voice yet see no body. Her parents –Professor Flitwick had called them 'muggles'- hadn't been too keen on traveling all the way to London to visit the magical alleyway to get her the magical school supplies she required to go to the magical school come September.

Elise thought the wizard way of traveling was strange. Professor Flitwick had taken a handful of dust from a pouch in his pocket –he called it 'floo powder'- and threw it into their fireplace. The flames then turned an emerald green, Professor Flitwick shouted "DIAGON ALLEY" in a perfectly clear voice, and they walked into the flames –which were, to Elise's surprise, harmless. She saw dozens of fireplaces zip past her sight until it finally landed upon one.

It was the most wonderful place Elise had ever seen. Shops were stacked on top of one another selling the most interesting things. Elise was headed towards the beautiful smell of lavender in the nearest store when Professor Flitwick grabbed her hand.

"Not yet, there will be time for that later, Miss Rivers." A frown grew on her face. This was the most wonderful place she'd ever visited, and she couldn't even go where she wanted when she wanted. "For now, we need to transfer your muggle money to wizard money. Did your parents give you money?"

Elise nodded, pulling her purse out of her small cross-body bag. "I don't know if it'll be enough to pay for everything." Her parents weren't very accepting about the news of their baby girl being a witch and having magical abilities, so they hadn't sent her much money to pay for her schooling. They had figured if they didn't give her much, she wouldn't be able to purchase all of her school supplies, and by extension not be able to attend Hogwarts.

"Not to worry, Miss Rivers, I have strict instructions from the Headmaster to make sure you have everything you need in order to attend school." Eleven year-old Elise lets out a sigh and follows the tiny professor to a snowy white building that was far taller than all the others. The front doors were bronze and guarded by two men that looked a lot like Professor Flitwick. However these two men looked far more menacing and were wearing scarlet and gold uniforms. "Ah, yes, those are goblins," Professor Flitwick begins as the pair grows closer and closer to the large building, "They run the Gringotts. Gringotts is the wizarding bank, by the way. I don't believe I mentioned that. Anyway, yes, goblins run Gringotts. I'm half-goblin myself." The goblins opened the bronze doors for the Elise and Professor Flitwick, the latter thanking the goblins earnestly which led to the former following the latter's lead.

In front of them now was a pair of silver doors, engraved with a warning of greed, what danger greed is, and that it is useless to try and steal from Gringotts. Professor Flitwick led Elise to a goblin by the name of Bogrod who exchanged her money.

"The gold ones are galleons, the silver ones are sickles, and the bronze ones are knuts," Professor Flitwick explained to Elise as they left Gringotts, "Seventeen sickles to a galleon and twenty-nine knuts to a sickle." Elise repeated the words in her head as Professor Flitwick pondered about which shop to visit first. "How about robes first?"

Elise nodded with a giant smile and followed him around to shop after shop. First to Madam Maklin's robe shop, then right next door to Amanuensis Quills. Then they headed to Flourish and Blotts to retrieve Elise's schoolbooks and a few extras that Professor Flitwick purchased for her himself because he was positive she would love them. Next they retrieved the cauldron, scales, phials, and telescope from her list of Hogwarts necessities.

"Now for the last item," Professor Flitwick leads Elise through a crowd towards a shop called Ollivander's. "Your very own wand." He led Elise into the empty shop, and then turned to leave, "I'll leave you to this on your own. Besides, I must go pick something up for myself before we leave."

"Good afternoon," an old man appeared before Elise, "what is your name, my dear?"

"Elise Rivers, sir," she stated shakily.

The old man laughed. "No need to be nervous, Miss Rivers. I'm Mr. Ollivander," he stuck out his hand and shook Elise's. "Very nice to meet you. Are you a muggleborn?"

"Yes, sir, I am."

Mr. Ollivander smiles and pulls out a long tape meaure. "Now, dearie, tell me which is you wand arm?"

"Well, I write with my right hand."

"Yes, very good, hold it out," he measures everywhere she could possibly imagine: shoulder to fingertip, fingertip to elbow, wrist to fingertip, shoulder to wrist, around the top of her head, head to toe, head to knee, and every measurement in between. "Now give me just a moment," and with that he hurries off.

He's gone for more than a moment, but Elise sits quietly taking it all in.

Mr. Ollivander goes through three wands before he finds the one that satisfies him: alder and phoenix feather, 11 inches, surprisingly springy. Elise gives him seven galleons and proudly walks out of the store with her new purchase.

She tried looking for Professor Flitwick, which was exceedingly difficult on account of his small stature. Resolving that he would eventually come looking for her, Elise sat down next to the front door of Ollivander's Wand Shop.

"Are you okay?" A boy that appeared to be the same age as Elise bent down next to her.

Elise was enamored by his appearance. Striking grey eyes and beautiful black hair. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm waiting for Professor Flitwick to find me."

"Professor, eh?" The boy sits down next to her. "I'm guessing your parents are muggles then, yeah?" Elise nods. For some reason, the boy likes that she nodded and sticks out his hand, "I'm-"

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! GET OFF THE GROUND THIS INSTANT!"

"I'm just leaving," he stands up and dusts off his trousers. "See you on the train."

As he walks away, Elise is simply confused by the word train. "Train? What train?"

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><p>When Elise returned back into her Winchester home through the living room fireplace, she was alone with all of the things she had purchased in Diagon Alley –and she still had a considerable amount of money left over- and the train ticket Professor Flitwick had given to her. Evidently, a train was leaving for Hogwarts on September 1st at 11 o'clock from King's Cross Station Platform 9 ¾.<p>

Her mother had laughed at her when she said there was a train departing for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from Platform 9 ¾. Her father, who had always had a level head and a far more open mind, told her that they would happily take the journey to London to drop her off at Kings Cross Station on September the first by 11 o'clock.

For the subsequent 43 days, Elise spent every moment of daylight pouring over her coursebooks. By the time September the first came around, she had finished all of them save _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander, which she had decided to save to read on the train ride to the school. She didn't know how long it took for a train to get to a magical school in Scotland. She had read all about the school in one of the books Professor Flitwick had bought her, _Hogwarts: A History _by Bathilda Bagshot –which was also tucked into her shoulder bag in case the trip was a long one.


	2. Lily, Alice, and Remus

TWO - LILY EVANS

The first time Lily Evans and Elise Rivers met was after the Sorting Ceremony. Elise, who had been sorted into Gryffindor, had chosen to sit beside the happy girl with bright red hair.

"Hi, I'm Elise Rivers. I like your hair" were the first words Elise Rivers spoke to Lily Evans. Lily laughed and introduced herself. While they were fast friends, they weren't the closest of friends until later that term when Elise was struggling in Transfiguration and sought the help of friend and dorm mate Lily Evans.

On accident, the pair had stayed up almost all night studying their Transfiguration notes and practicing the spells they had been working on in class. The two girls sat in the common room in front of the fire, laughing about their muggle experiences and how many times they've gotten lost on the way to class at Hogwarts.

After that night in late October, Lily and Elise were the best of friends.

They soon became close friends with another of their dorm mates: Alice Fawley. Alice was a beautiful girl. Her face was round, and her cheeks were always the perfect shade of pink. Elise was positive that Alice Fawley was the only person she'd ever met that could pull off short blonde hair.

When December appeared, Elise was nervous. Would her parents want her to come home? Should she just stay at school? Would she be able to see her friends at all?

Elise received a letter from her parents –how they'd sent it, she never was able to figure out- one day at lunch apologizing to her. Her mother had written the letter, which made it even more special, and she wrote Elise that they would be overjoyed if she were to come home for the holidays. The news made Elise all but jump up and down with excitement. She would write them back immediately telling them the date break began and ended and that she was eager to come home for the holidays.

By the time the holidays came around, Elise was excited to go home, especially since she would get to spend the train ride home with Lily. About halfway through the journey, Elise had accidentally fallen asleep while Lily was talking about her ideas for the Transfiguration paper they had to complete over break.

When Elise wakes up, guilt washed over her, she shouldn't have fallen asleep. But when she lifted her head from the window, she saw that someone else had since joined them. It was Remus Lupin. Remus is a friend of James Potter and Sirius Black. He is a fellow Gryffindor, and he seems –to Elise at least- not to be too similar to the troublesome duo and instead a very genuine person.

"Aw, Sleeping Beauty has awoken from her slumber," Lily giggles and kicks her foot at Elise, "while you were out, dear Princess," Elise kicks Lily back, "my new friend Remus stopped by."

Elise and Remus introduce themselves even though they already know who the other is.

"Remus Lupin," he sticks out his hand.

"Elise Rivers," she smiles back and takes his hand in hers.

The trio talks for hours about school and how excited they are to see their families for the first time in months and how they're already missing the castle. Lily and Elise wonder how they're to practice the charm over holiday when they will be surrounded by muggles the entire holiday. Remus assures them that they will have time when they return to Hogwarts to practice before Charms class.

Very tired of messing with the positioning of her long honey brown hair, Elise quickly plaits it down her head. While she listens to Lily and Remus chat animatedly about schoolwork, Elise catches her reflection in the window. She smiles at herself and joins in as they begin to talk about Potions (Elise's favorite subject, just surpassing Transfiguration).

"That Slughorn sure is a mess sometimes."

"Remember in class when he accidentally-"

"YES!"

Laughs chorus though their train car until it reaches Platform 9 ¾. Throughout the holiday, the three wrote to each other often. Elise's parents had somehow journeyed to Diagon Alley and purchased her an owl for Christmas (she decided to name the owl Amata after a character of her favorite of the tales of Beedle and Bard: _The Fountain of Fair Fourtune _–which was one of the books Professor Flitwick insisted upon her getting in Diagon Alley-).

The three met up again on the train back to school after the holidays and talked almost the entire way there.

From then on, Lily and Elise often found company in Remus. The three became friends very quickly, and when he told them his secret almost a year to the day they met on the train to leave for holidays and became friends, Elise wrapped him in a hug murmuring how it didn't change a thing and Lily expressed her curiosity in how he'd been keeping it a secret for so long.


	3. James, Peter, and Amos

THREE - JAMES POTTER, PETER PETTIGREW, AND AMOS DIGGORY

Almost four years following Remus, Lily, and Elise's meeting on the train at Christmas time, they meet again –certainly not for the first time since Christmas of their first year- at Platform 9 ¾ to return to school for their fifth year at Hogwarts. Remus and Lily had been chosen to be prefects for the Gryffindor house. So Elise is left alone with her now worn copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ and her brand-new copy of _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Five_.

She is left in peace until the trolley lady comes by around half past twelve, asking Elise if she wants anything from the trolley. Elise buys a few things, and reads her new schoolbook in silence while nibbling on a chocolate wand.

Around half past two and two chocolate wands later, someone else enters the compartment. Elise looks up from the properties of moonstone to see Peter Pettigrew standing in the shadows of Sirius Black and James Potter.

The latter comes into the compartment, scratching his head and adjusting his round glasses. "Hi, Elise," he sits down across from her, "how are you?"

"I'm well," she smiles. Sirius sits down next to James, and Peter sits down a couple of feet to the right of Elise. "Lily was made prefect, so you probably won't see her until we get to the castle, James, unless you happen upon her in the corridor.

James relaxes into the seat and takes a deep sigh of relief.

It's no secret to Elise that James fancies Lily. She tends to complain about him a lot to Elise.

For the longest time, Elise sits in silence as she continues to read about moonstone. However, she realizes she's read the same line about seven times because James and Sirius are talking rather loudly to one another.

"Was there a reason the three of you came in here?" Elise wonders, annoyed because she wants to finish reading her schoolbook before she reaches Hogwarts. But with the sky growing darker, she realizes that her goal might not be able to be achieved.

This had, evidently, caught the boys off guard by the shocked looks on their faces. James sputters out nonsense about how they had accidently set off a dungbomb in their compartment, and this was the emptiest one that they came across.

"You lot really don't study do you?" All three of them shake their heads. "Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three: _Aere Mundissimo _cleans the air of a stench in a confined location." All three of them look rather impressed. "What compartment was it? I can clean it for you." James stands up excitedly and leads her down about five compartments and swings the door open. Elise holds her nose with her left hand and points her wand at the compartment swirling with the disgusting smell. "Aere Mundissimo," she says, flicking her wrist near the end of the incantation.

Sirius sticks his head into the compartment and unplugs his nose, taking a large wiff. A large smile reaches his face. He jumps on Elise and wraps his arms around her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he releases her and then skips into the cabin, twirling around like a little girl in a field of flowers. James and Peter file into the compartment with a smile. Sirius is about to close the door, and Elise is beginning to walk away when: "Hey Elise! Do you wanna . . . join us?"

Elise's words come before Elise's thought many times. Times much like this one. "Sure, just let me run and get my bag."

In fact if she had thought it through, she would have said "No, I really do need to finish my schoolbook" and walked back to her compartment alone to finish reading about moonstones.

Instead, Elise is walking back to her compartment with Sirius by her side. They walk in silence and Elise is wondering slightly if it would be less awkward if she jumped out the window. Sliding her schoolbook into her bag, she finally decides to voice her worries aloud, "Are you sure you want me to come? I'll be fine here by myself."

"I'm sure, Elise," Sirius smiles and wraps an arm around her shoulders, leading her out of the now vacant compartment and towards his, "besides, we'd love to get to know you. We've been at Hogwarts together for four years, and the most we've said to each other was the day I met you in Diagon Alley."

_He remembers that?_

"All we've heard about you is what Remus tells us, so we've wanted to meet you for some time." He holds the compartment door open for her and ushers her to the spot across from James and Peter and beside the window. Sirius sits on the other side of Elise and quite a bit closer than Peter had earlier.

"So, Elise Rivers," James leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees with a joyful expression, "do tell us all about yourself."

"Well, James Potter, what would you like to know?" Elise copies him with a smile and messes with her curled hair.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No." James smiles and gives Elise a high-five.

"Where do you live?"

"Winchester."

"Muggle community?"

Elise nods, "My parents are both muggles."

"Favorite subject at Hogwarts?"

"Potions, then Transfiguration." Sirius has a large smile on his face at this point. Elise doesn't notice, but James does.

"Favorite non-magical animal?"

Elise pauses, and thinks for a moment, "Dog."

"Favorite magical animal?"

"Pheonix."

"Favorite color?"

"Red."

"How did you meet Lily?"

"We met after I was sorted. I sat right next to her at the feast because I like her hair."

"Sounds like you, James," Sirius notes with a wide grin, "first thing he said about Evans was that he thought her hair was pretty." Elise lets out a laugh because that was the first thing she had said about Lily as well. She falls back into the seat, and talks with the trio for the remainder of their ride to Hogwarts, hardly a quiet moment falling in the group.

The sky had grown quite dark when Elise notes that she hadn't changed into her robes yet. "I'm going to go change into my robes," she states, picking her bag up off the floor and checking to see that it does indeed have a set inside.

"You could just change here," Sirius smirks.

Glad her spellbook is in her bag, she grabs it in her fists and hits him multiple times before leaving the compartment to head to a ladies' lavatory. She changes quickly as she can because she knows that it won't be long until the train pulls into Hogsmeade. She struggles with her tie, just as she always has, but perfects it on the third time around. Elise folds up the sleeves of her grey jumper, exposing the white shirt underneath, and tosses her cloak over her arm.

After fixing her hair, she pulls her bag onto her shoulder and walks out of the lavatory. She takes a few steps and then stops at a window. From the window, she can see Hogsmeade and the star-filled sky floating above it.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

Elise turns to the voice with a smile. Her mother often told Elise that when she was blankly looking at someone she looked angry, so she should smile more often. "Yes, it is. I still haven't been able to grasp how beautiful this place is."

The boy has a beautiful face. It is a ruddy face from being outside often; Elise muses, and has growing stubble along his jawline that is the same dark brown color as his hair. Elise stumbles slightly because she hadn't noticed that the train was coming to a halt, but the boy catches her. She sees the Hufflepuff crest on his chest and the Head Boy badge pinned to his blazer.

"Amos Diggory."

"Elise Rivers."

"Well, Elise Rivers, how would like to accompany me to the carriages?" He sticks out his arm, and Elise can't refuse. She smiles, nods, and grabs onto his arm before he leads them off the train and towards the carriages. It's only Amos and Elise in the carriage that they take to the castle. They sit across from each other and talk about their lives. Amos is particularly interested in Elise's muggle life just as Elise is particularly interested in Amos's pure-blood life.

When the carriage stops, Elise is disappointed. She wishes that she could just stay in the carriage for a little longer with Amos, at least until they finished talking. Amos helped her out of the carriage and offered his arm once more for the short journey to the castle. They talk the entire way, and he makes her laugh. Elise likes that he can make her laugh.

It's when they reach the Entrance Hall that Amos pulls Elise away from the crowd.

"Elise, I would love to see you again," Amos takes her hands in his and looks down into her eyes. His smile takes over his face. "Maybe we could meet in the Great Hall for lunch tomorrow?"

Elise smiles and nods enthusiastically. "Yes, I would like that very much."

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><p><strong>AN: I do hope you are all enjoying the story of Elise Rivers. Please review, favorite, and follow if you'd like. I;m posting twice today in honor of Harry Potter weekend and spring break. Best wishes to all of you! Love you, dearies!**


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